The Ethics of Interdepartmental Communication - Sales and Marketing

Sales and marketing, as a discipline and as a department, need to work more closely to be effective. Often they operate from the top down (COO, CMO, Marketing/Sales Manager, Sales Team and, finally, Consumer), when they should operate more cyclically with the customer at the center of all efforts. Having sales teams understand marketing practices (why and how they work) and vice-versa leads to better communication between the company and the customer; this is particularly true with sales professionals who are concerned with new business acquisition. But even maintenance of existing accounts is better served by sales professionals who understand marketing. Understanding the product life-cycle and how to maximize and extend the growth phase of that cycle will benefit the entire company, if not the category. During this phase, heavy advertising is of the utmost importance and sales professionals can guarantee that these advertisements get seen by their key demographic to solidify distribution of his/her product. A better understanding of the philosophy behind positioning and how this relates to the target market and the current client base requires two-way communication between these two departments. Indeed, the entire marketing mix is best served this way.

This being said, marketers could also learn a lot from sales professionals. Sales professionals have a knowledge about consumer needs and what trends currently affect their customer (which hopefully represents the targeted market). Indeed, the results of competitive forces, and other external threats are discussed with top sales performers by key clients. There have been wonderful campaigns designed to grow brand awareness to attract new business, but the foot-soldiers – the top sales professional who is in the field, is in fact more in the know about what the demands are among new and potential clients and what communication would better attract and secure them. These two disciplines are so harmonious, it’s amazing that they are often so disengaged and even truncated at the level of sales manager.

What usually happens when these departments don’t harmonize? Let’s look at a typical scenario. A product is about to enter a maturity phase and marketing brings forth a campaign designed to extend the phase. (Typically, the maturity phase of most products require heavy sales promotion.) Suddenly the sales manager inundates her/his team with directives and quotas, usually designed to get existing clients to purchase additional lines and/or to purchase more product. The sales manager is under intense pressure to bring results to the Manager of Operations. To motivate his/her team, incentives are delivered. Carrot dangling is typically the modus operandi. While top sales performers will respond favorably to this technique (because they’ve made money this way before and because they are internally motivated anyway - the external bit just jump-starts them), the average sales person is a bit resentful. They have been speaking with potential clients and are focused on overcoming objections and uncovering leads. Now they have new quotas and new information to communicate to a client base who they’ve been struggling to reach. The new campaign doesn’t make sense to them.

We teach sales people the art of sales without the how or the why. Or we give them the wrong information. The how and why have little to do with making money and everything about consumer wants and needs. The average sales person can overcome objections when they have a better understanding about why their product exists and why the campaign exists.

Objection handling (future blog) is not the aim of sales. Marketing campaigns are not the aim of sales (though they are sometimes the how). The aim of sales is to communicate the solution to consumer needs through their product/service and to deliver that product/service in a method that is better than the competition. This communication is created by the marketing team. When these teams are not naturally interwoven, communication is flawed and the average sales person, instead of growing as a professional into a top performer, fails in this company. And so, the company has failed the sales person. Sales has such high turnover and I believe this is partly the reason. Better communication to our employees, not just our customers, is what ethical sales is all about.

The Ethics of Interdepartmental Communication - Sales and Marketing

Sales and marketing, as a discipline and as a department, need to work more closely to be effective. Often they operate from the top down (COO, CMO, Marketing/Sales Manager, Sales Team and, finally, Consumer), when they should operate more cyclically with the customer at the center of all efforts. Having sales teams understand marketing practices (why and how they work) and vice-versa leads to better communication between the company and the customer; this is particularly true with sales professionals who are concerned with new business acquisition. But even maintenance of existing accounts is better served by sales professionals who understand marketing. Understanding the product life-cycle and how to maximize and extend the growth phase of that cycle will benefit the entire company, if not the category. During this phase, heavy advertising is of the utmost importance and sales professionals can guarantee that these advertisements get seen by their key demographic to solidify distribution of his/her product. A better understanding of the philosophy behind positioning and how this relates to the target market and the current client base requires two-way communication between these two departments. Indeed, the entire marketing mix is best served this way.

This being said, marketers could also learn a lot from sales professionals. Sales professionals have a knowledge about consumer needs and what trends currently affect their customer (which hopefully represents the targeted market). Indeed, the results of competitive forces, and other external threats are discussed with top sales performers by key clients. There have been wonderful campaigns designed to grow brand awareness to attract new business, but the foot-soldiers – the top sales professional who is in the field, is in fact more in the know about what the demands are among new and potential clients and what communication would better attract and secure them. These two disciplines are so harmonious, it’s amazing that they are often so disengaged and even truncated at the level of sales manager.

What usually happens when these departments don’t harmonize? Let’s look at a typical scenario. A product is about to enter a maturity phase and marketing brings forth a campaign designed to extend the phase. (Typically, the maturity phase of most products require heavy sales promotion.) Suddenly the sales manager inundates her/his team with directives and quotas, usually designed to get existing clients to purchase additional lines and/or to purchase more product. The sales manager is under intense pressure to bring results to the Manager of Operations. To motivate his/her team, incentives are delivered. Carrot dangling is typically the modus operandi. While top sales performers will respond favorably to this technique (because they’ve made money this way before and because they are internally motivated anyway - the external bit just jump-starts them), the average sales person is a bit resentful. They have been speaking with potential clients and are focused on overcoming objections and uncovering leads. Now they have new quotas and new information to communicate to a client base who they’ve been struggling to reach. The new campaign doesn’t make sense to them.

We teach sales people the art of sales without the how or the why. Or we give them the wrong information. The how and why have little to do with making money and everything about consumer wants and needs. The average sales person can overcome objections when they have a better understanding about why their product exists and why the campaign exists.

Objection handling (future blog) is not the aim of sales. Marketing campaigns are not the aim of sales (though they are sometimes the how). The aim of sales is to communicate the solution to consumer needs through their product/service and to deliver that product/service in a method that is better than the competition. This communication is created by the marketing team. When these teams are not naturally interwoven, communication is flawed and the average sales person, instead of growing as a professional into a top performer, fails in this company. And so, the company has failed the sales person. Sales has such high turnover and I believe this is partly the reason. Better communication to our employees, not just our customers, is what ethical sales is all about.

Transforming Order Takers into Order GETTERS

It amazes me the amount of sales managers and small-medium sized business owners that want to hire order-getters, but recruit order-takers instead, expecting these job-applicants to magically transform themselves into top sales performers without, mind-you, the guidance and support of a seasoned order-getter who’s “been there.” I’m not sure what the thinking is behind this practice, though I suspect it’s about saving money; yet this practice is - by-far - the biggest money-waster in  terms of cost-of-sales or payroll.

"Employers don't fully understand what an order-getter is...let alone how to recruit for one."

I also believe that employers don’t fully understand what an order-getter is, (aside from a sales person who can prospect well or is a great closer) let alone know how to recruit for one. Perhaps they’ve had a great order-getter before and they’d like to repeat that, attempting to hire someone similar to what that person appeared to be. Even if they have the standard description of a great sales professional: Confident; Likable and Positive; Strong Time-Management Skills; Great Prospecting Skills; a Solid Closer and a Relationship Builder, they really don’t have the definition of what a great sales rep would be in THIS (their) company. Amazing, considering there’s likely a detailed account of their target market.

What does this market (your target market) need from your company and your sales force? A knowledgeable rep? Sure! Someone who will follow-up and service the account? Of course! But there are other needs as well – call them soft-skills, if you like. Take for example the Canadian Sales rep who arrived with his sales force in Japan to negotiate and close a very important deal to sell a specific building technology – developed in Canada – to a large, multi-national Japanese company. This company welcomed this particular Canadian sales force, arranging for accommodation and inviting them to a large company dinner, held at a prestigious banquet hall in Japan. As the president of this company was delivering his speech, the Canadian sales manager leaned in to the VP of Operations in the Japanese company and made a jovial, seemingly harmless comment regarding the royal treatment bestowed upon the president of the company. In short order, the sale was done. Finished. Kaput. Any wonder why? An international market requires sensitivity to international cultures and practices.

A great sales manager (a proven closer), couldn’t understand why he lost the account so abruptly. But he was hired primarily for his closing skills, not his “fit” to the company’s target market.

While this is a skill that can be taught, if hiring managers don’t understand it, how can they hope to hire for it? If a company doesn’t employ the right fit for their customers, it can’t hope to keep those customers. But, even if they don’t have the experience that a seasoned order-getter might have, they can still learn how to hire great teams and train great sales personnel. The upfront costs might be higher, but the long term profits are priceless!

If you’re an employer, wondering how to hire order-getters, a simple Google search should yield a wealth of organizations that specialize in training teams. (I’ve included some of my favourites below.)

Meanwhile, as always, focusing on your customer will always pay-off. Ask what they require from your front-line? Then listen. Because I promise they are speaking.

Sylvia MacNeil

Founder, Prospect North Sales

Sample Sales Training and Workshops:

Sinai-Maple (Hamilton, SW Ontario, U.S)Prospect North Sales and Marketing Consultants (Hamilton and Area)

Pam Griffiths Executive Coaching (Niagara and Area)
Dale Carnegie School (Toronto)

How’s your relationships with customers? Check your EQ!

Want better sales? Loyal, happy customers? Want better job satisfaction and earning potential? Look at emotional training. Emotional Intelligence (EQ) directly affects sales performance. It arms the sales professional with the ability to respond appropriately to situations and to influence other people on an emotional level. It provides her/him with confidence and helps to avoid bravado (which is often – detrimentally - used as an alternative to confidence). Emotional intelligence makes us likable to others, which is really the key to maintaining those big accounts. It makes us likable to ourselves, which is the key to landing the big account in the first place. So, what exactly is emotional intelligence?

Emotional Intelligence (EQ) as defined by Psychology Today is the ability to identify and manage your own emotions and the emotions of others. Sounds kind of basic – especially for those who deem general intelligence to be the be-all, end-all. However, EQ testing is conducted by Fortune 500 companies for their new hires all the time – and there’s a reason for this. High emotional intelligence is that “je ne sais quoi” that you see in top sales performers all the time. Top performers are confident, dedicated, and they like themselves. They work hard. They will gladly talk to those who ‘get it’, but they avoid spending time with complainers and energy vampires. Many C-level executives have taken and given these tests and those who work for these esteemed companies have scored high on them, including sales professionals.

There are three standard models to EQ testing: The Ability Model, The Trait Model, and the Mixed Model. These models cover the emotional intelligence landscape and they uncover the vital ways that emotions facilitate thought and understanding.

So now that we’ve determined what emotional intelligence is as well as the impact it has on sales performance, let’s take a closer look at the three standard models:

1.    The Ability Model (allows you to navigate your social environment)

a.    The ability model uses EMOTIONS to ENHANCE thinking. It rates one’s ability to:

                                          i.    Perceive and correctly interpret emotions in others,

                                         ii.    Use emotions effectively, and

                                        iii.    Manage their emotions and the emotions of others

2.    The Trait Model

a.    The trait model rates one’s level of self efficacy or confidence.

3.    The Mixed Model rates

a.    Self-awareness,

b.    Self-regulation,

c.     Social skills,

d.    Empathy and

e.    Motivation

If you’re reading this blog, you may be asking if there is a way to rate your own EQ levels and how to improve upon these. There’s an excess of online tests available to help you rate your level of emotional intelligence (see links below). But there are problems with these. The trouble with “self-assessment” is the “self” component. Are you really able to answer questions honestly? One serious weakness in these tests is the subject’s tendency to answer how s/he thinks s/he should answer, rather than with total honesty.

If you are serious about wanting to improve your sales, you may answer more truthfully than most. If you are serious about wanting to improve your career, then you may be even more motivated to be truthful. But if you really want to improve your life, if you’ve had enough of repeating the same story in every relationship and in every job, then you will likely be ready to be self-honest, which is really where change can begin. A big distance lies between truth and honestly (roughly the distance between your head and your gut!).

So – again - can emotional intelligence be improved upon? The answer would be a qualified yes. You probably have to be desperate enough to do it. It takes a lot of emotional intelligence to be self-honest enough to improve your emotional intelligence to begin with!

While there are some conflicting opinions on the relevance of EQ, most would agree that scoring high in this area would positively affect one’s life. Sales requires many skills that can be learned: product knowledge, company information, research skills, time-management, et al. Emotional intelligence cannot replace general intelligence. Specific personality traits will always give some people a greater edge in sales. But high emotional intelligence is a major component to creating positive interactions and mutually beneficial exchanges. The Big 5 Personality Traits help sales people to get the appointment, but EQ helps sales people to get the relationship, and this is the key to loyalty.

http://www.queendom.com/tests/access_page/index.htm?idRegTest=3978
http://www.maetrix.com.au/meit/eitest.html
http://www.iq-test.net/eq-test.html